Urban Life Experience Book Discussion Series

The Urban Life Experience Book Discussion continued today, Saturday, May 18, 2019 by discussing Defining Moments in Black History: Reading Between the Lies by Dick Gregory. There were nine of us on Saturday and two of the participants were first-timers. One participant brought her great-grandson who was a first grader and extremely cute. His presence provided us an opportunity to describe the contents of the book without using some of the words or mentioning some of the topics Mr. Gregory presented. Instead of restricting our conversation, this actually enhanced our conversation, forcing us to be creative in our tone and language.   This was Dick Gregory’s last book and in fact he had already passed away when the book came on the market.   We all agreed that this would be a great book for a young person who had no knowledge of African American History. The book details The Middle Passage, Nat Turner, Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, Eli Whitney, The Dred Sco...

On Saturday April 6, we discussed The Poet X  by Elizabeth Acevedo in honor of National Poetry Month. We took turns reading passages aloud during our discussion, experiencing the sounds of the poetry instead of just reading the works on paper. All of the excerpts of poems written below are the property of Elizabeth Acevedo.   The Poet X was written for Young Adults and has won the 2018 National Book Award. One of the themes in the book is how mothers are so fearful about what might happen to their daughters (at the hands of men) they want to place their daughters in a box and not let them breathe. Another theme is blatant sexual harassement of a 15 year old girl, sometimes by adult men. Xiomara (pronounced See-oh-MAH-ra) lives in the Dominican community in Harlem and although she hates the attention she gets from men because of her fully developed body, she yearns to know how it feels to kiss a boy. Last year we read another teen book written...

     The Urban Life Experience Book Discussion Series met on Saturday Feb. 23, there were twelve of us. In keeping up our Black History Month theme we began last year by reading various biographies or works written by Langston Hughes, this year we chose Ida B. Wells as our subject.  We were to read any book written by Ida B. Wells or about Ida B. Wells. I have to say that the participants truly stepped up to the task. At least a couple people read two different books. Judy read To Keep the Waters Troubled and On Lynchings        Ida B. Wells is known as a prolific crusader against lynching through her journalism and public speaking. She also started women's' social clubs, rallying women to become politically involved and she was a suffragist. She was usually found "too radical" by the Civil Rights Crusaders of her time, but she did become a great friend to Frederick Douglass.         Connie TR began our meeting...

On Saturday Jan. 19th the Urban Life Experience Book Discussion Series delved into Becoming by Michelle Obama. Eighteen people ended up in attendance, all in various stages of still reading, finished, or still listening to the audio-book. This is our all-time high for attendance!  Almost everyone at the table could relate to the topics Mrs. Obama wrote about such as having grandparents who were part of the Great Migration of Southern Blacks to the North, the abandonment of the inner cities, and of having parents and grandparents who ended up giving up on their dreams due to lack of educational opportunities and being shut out of trade unions.  Mary F. shared how her parents migrated to New Haven from Georgetown SC to look for a better life. They, like Michelle Obama's family witnessed their neighborhood's decline. Mary shared how she went away to college then came back to her old neighborhood to teach, really noticing the deterioration after being away.  ...

On Saturday Dec. 1 we had our last book discussion for this year and it was probably one of the most intense discussions we've had so far. There were eight of us, three of which it was their first time attending. I mentioned the book Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward in the last post and I honestly considered it to be a much "deeper" book than An American Marriage , but I have to admit after hearing what seven other people had to say, I see more in  An American Marriage as I had previously. Shelara pointed out for us the three paternal relationships that add nuance to the story: Roy and Big Roy Roy and Walter Andre and Carlos Shelara: "Walter is a fun house version of Big Roy" After being released, Roy writes a letter to his biological father Walter asking him for advice. This is the first time Roy acknowledges Walter as a father. Up until then Roy only respected Big Roy, the father who had married his mother and adopted him, gave him his name an...

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones has been getting great reviews all year long. There’s even a rumor that it’s going to be made into a movie! The author indicated that she wanted to write a book underscoring the problems of an unfair justice system and mass incarceration, but she wanted to do it from the point of view of a story. The story she created describes what happens in the marriage of Celestial and Roy, when Roy is unjustly convicted of a crime and sentenced to prison.   Celestial and Roy are well-educated and modernly upwardly mobile.   Although the couple’s home is in Atlanta, they have traveled to a small town in Louisiana to visit Roy’s parents. It’s here, at the one-star hotel (the only hotel in town,) where their troubles begin.   It just so happens that a prison in Louisiana is featured last book we discussed, Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward. In Sing Unburied Sing the prison is the infamous Parchman Prison Farm. The characters are rural a...

Eight of us attended the book discussion of Sing Unburied Sing on Saturday Oct. 13, 2018. The book was so haunting but extremely well written. We all agreed that this book is very much like a Toni Morrison book, which in my opinion is the highest praise a writer could receive. Connie went as far to say that Sing Unburied Sing reminded her of Sula and Song of Solomon . Three of the women who attended on Saturday were first-timers. One was Sarah, who started the discussion with how much she hated it when the children walked out of the door to take the road trip with their mother.   Another first-time attendee is Laura, who said that this book was so unsettling that she couldn’t read it before bed. Asadie said she had “questions” about what was happening in the book. I think she meant that she found it curious that people who had already died could be seen and heard and play an active role in the story. Carla said she loved the writing and baby’s sickness really pul...